GA Quest 2
by Starlord
Summary: A critically injured Green Arrow remembers his past in a way that never was. Is he an orphan or isn't he?
1. Chapter 1

The Second Quest

Part 1

Fact and Fiction

I do not own and will never own any DC characters mentioned in this story which I am getting no money for.

This story takes place right after Ollie's resurrection and before Ollie loses his pretty bird again.

"Screw you, Dad!" shouted the twenty two year old blond man as he flung a file folder into

the air, papers flying everywhere.

"You ungrateful son of a bitch! I've spend my entire life building this company from the ground

up so that my only son can someday walk in my footsteps, and you have the audacity to accuse me

of this shit," the older man shouted back from behind his desk.

"Don't start with that crap again. You built this company for the same reason that everyone else

builds emprie's, for their own over grown ego."

"I will not put up with this in my own office-my own home, for Christs sake!"

The blond man-child spun around and headed for thick mahogany door. His face was beet red

and the blood vessels in this temples were enlarged and practically glowing purple.

As he flung open the door her whirled around once more at the older man whose physical re-

semblance was uncanny. The only diference was that the older man's hair was gray and he carried a

goatee on him. "Get this tghrough your head, old man! I have never, nor would I ever want to be like you.

You spend your whole life walking over and backstabbing anyone and everyone you had to, to get where

you are. Every one of your holdings, your interests, is paved by poor people's blood and sweat. In fact,

_old man_, you're the last person on this planet that I would ever want to be like!"

"Oliver! Oliver, you get back here!"

The heavy door slammed shut behind the young man named Oliver Queen and he stood there

for a second, dazed. He was standing on a beach, the smell of sea salt in the air and the sound of

seagulls flying overhead. How the hell did he get here?

He looked down to see that this cloths had changed. Wat was, just a second ago, a cashmere

sweater and Dockers, was now nothing more then a loin cloth of old material. In his right hand he held a

very flexible type of wood that had been made into a makeshift bow. His skin felt tight, almost leathery.

The sun was beating down on him hard and he could feel the heat on his naked back.

"What the hell?" he mumbled as he felt a full blond beard that covered his face. To say that this wasn't

right would have been the understatement of the year. How the hell did he get here and where in the hell

was...here?

He turned aroound but the door was gone. His father's office door, in fact the enitre estate, was

gone. There was nothing but sand and water where once stood a fourty-five room mansion. He took a small

step forward and felt the sand cover over his toes

A rustling in some bushes to his stopped him in his tracks. Something was moving around up there

where the sand met some kind of jungle's edge. His heart skipped a beat. Something was watching him,

something big. Some kind of animal out there, he was sure of it. The beast was stalking him, or was he

stalking th beast? He couldn't be sure anymore. He did know that he was starved and that son of a bitch

was about to become supper.

He crouched down low and scanned the brush that lay to his north. He reached behind him and was

not surprised to find a quiver of hand made arrows waitging for him. He slowly pulle one to him and

nocked it, his eyes never leaving the underbrush. He knew that it was watching him, wondering if it could

take him; convincing its self that it could take him.

_I've done this a hundred times_, he thought to himself. Every muscle in his body was tense, but his

hands never shook. Crap, he wasn't a novice at this, not anymore. He would just wait until the beast

came from the brush chargining at him and then, at the last second, he would release the arrow and as

usual it would hit the wild animal square between the eyes-the arrow driving itself into the brain and

killing it instantly.

"Come on you son of a bitch," he whispered to himself, his blue eyes almost glowing with antic-

ipation. His lip curled up and a smirk crossed his face at the same time. "Come on, daddy nees a little

bacon for summer." He was waiting for a wild boar and he new that now...but how?

It came out from the brush lumbering at him at a faster pace then what he had expected; however,

he also hadn't expected to see some kind of seven fot freak of nature that would have made Frankensteins

Monster look GQ. It bellowed as it came toward him and it spoke to him in a deep and slow voice.

"My name is Soloman Grundy, born on a Monday."

Oliver froze and his eyes windened in horror. What the hell was that? He dropped his bow and stumbled

back in the sand, almost losing his balance and falling back into the sand. He was only just able to catch

himself and pull himself back into a more solid position when the things was on him. It slapped Ollie with the

back of his hand and the blond man was instantly lifted up out of the sand. As he flew though thge air he

had only one comforting thought; well, at least he was landing in water.

The breath left him as he slammed into cement. Cement? He felt a couple of ribs crack but ignored

it as he rolled himself to the right and then jumped up. Now what was going on?

He was standing in an alley in some sort of green costume. A green longbow was now in his right hand.

He touched his face and the full beard was gone, and in its place was a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee.

just like his father had. He also was wearig some kind of mask and his body hurt badly. There felt like some

kind of swelling his left eye. He heard a sound behind him and whipped around and nocked an arrow just in

time to see Count Vertigo flying in his direction. He let loose the arrow and it flew toward its intended victim,

but at the last second it was deflected by a flick of Vertigo's hand.

"Ollie!"

He stopped cold. That was a voice he should know. A young man's voice, but who? Who the hell

was calling for him in such pain and desperation?

"Dammit Ollie, I need you!" the voice called out again. It was full of anguish and it was getting fainter

by the minute.

He turned back to take care of Vertigo, but the villain was gone. He looked around wildley but the

man had just vanished.

"Ollie, please..." the voice was fading fast.

He took of running and started turning corner after corner trying to get to the voice that he knew. A voice

that tore at his very heart, but why couldn't he place it? What the hell was going on with him? Sweat began to

drip into his face mask as he continued to frantically search for the person who so desperately needed him.

Why couldn't he get to him? A feeling of panic began to grow inside of him.

That was when he halted as the street he was frunning down dead ended. Laying there in front of him was

Roy. That's who the voice had come from, his ward, Roy. He was lying on the ground in front of the archer

and sweat was covering his face. His body was shaking violently and Ollie could see the track marks up

and down his arms. He was also being cradled by Black Canary who was whispering reassuring thoughts

into his ear.

Dinah looked up at him with tears in her eyes, "What the hell is wrong with you? Why didn't you see

this? Ollie...you're losing him."

Before he could speak, another voice from behind mae him turn and stumble at the same time.

"Why did you leave me, son? Why? You were a sorry excuse for a son! I was innocent, damn it!"

"You were not," Arrow screamed back and whipped off his mask. "Stop lying to me you son of a..."

Canary's voice cut in, "Ollie, Goddeamn it Ollie, look at me. Look at _me_!"

Oliver Queen's eyes flew open and he looked around. He was in a hospital; that much was obvious.

He would have known if not by th horrible smell and the beeping of the machines around him, then by

the fact that his body felt as though it was hit by a semi.

He turned his head slightly and saw his pretty bird looking at him with more then just concern in

her eyes. He saw the love, the love that always tore at his heart. He tried to talk, but just coughed.

"Shh," Dinah said, putting a finger to his lips. "Just lay there. I'm going to go tell the doctor and Roy

that you're finally awake."

He shook his head no and pulled at the oxygen tube that was logged deep down in his throat.

He needed it out and he needed it out right now.

"No, Ollie, stop doing that! Just wait a second while I get the doctor."

He shook his head more vehemently and fought her as he weakly tried to get that tube out of him.

"Oliver Queen you stop right now!" Black Canary said pushing his hands away.

He stopped and gave her a cold stare. He needed to talk to her right now. He had to make

sure that this was real. As horrible as he felt he needed to know that this wasn't going to disappear

as well.

She seemed to sense that something was agitating him, she had always been good about

sensing what he needed.

"You don't remember what happened, do you?" she asked him as she sat back down beside

the bed and too his hand.

After he had shook his head no she went on, "We were fighting Count Vertigo. By all rights he

had me when you sent out a grappling arrow, the last one in your quiver actually. It caught and hooked

him in the leg. You yanked on it and he let out a howl, that's when it happened..."

She paused for a second and he urged her to go on with his eyes. She took a deep breath and

continued. "Somebody shot you, Ollie. Shot you from behind, three times. You've been in surgery for

over eight hours but the doctors seem to think that you are going to be fine. Oh Oliver, I really thouht

we were going to lose you," she started to choke up took a breath and reigned it in.

Just then the door swung open and a very hadsome doctor walked in and smiled at Ollie, "Well

look who' awake. I bet you want that tube taken out, don't you?"

Oliver nodded his head and the doctor smiled and called down the hall for a nurse. After she

had come into the room they worked the tube out and Ollie looked up to see that Roy had joined

them, and was grinning ear to ear.

"It's about time you woke up old man! Dinah has been worried sick about you. I told her you

were to ornery to up and die on us again, but she was having her doubts." His face betrayed his

bravado, though, and Ollie caught a glimpse of water in Roy's left eye.

They offered Ollie water and he sipped hungrily, and often, coughing occasionally as it

went down rought at first. Finally he leaned his head back and looked at the two members of what

he considered to be his growing family.

"Anything we can get you?" Canary asked.

"Mia and Conner and then my life will be complete," he whispered and smiled at them.

"They'll be here soon. They're taking a scout around town to see if they could track down  
Count Vertigo," she replied with a smile.

"I had the weirdest dream," Ollie whispered as he felt the pain killers taking control of his

body. "I dreamt about my last fight with my father, right before I left. He was still telling me he

was innocent."

Things were starting to fade for Oliver Queen but he saw the confusion of both Roy and

Dinah's face and he looked back just as puzzled, "What?"

Roy spoke, "Hey pal, it was just a dream. You never knew your parents, remember. You're

an orphan, old man."

"No I'm not. Dad just died last year, nit-wit. You two were both at the funeral."

The other two looked at each other with concern. What the hell was going on? They turned

back to Oliver, but he had fallen back asleep.

Well let me know what you thought of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

The Second Quest

Part 2

Search and Seizures

Authors notes: _First, sorry about the horrible typo's in part 1. This one should be much better. Two, this story _

_actually takes place after Dinah and Ollie and have broken up. Three, let me know what you think. I am _

_new to all of this and my plan is to continue until I find my voice, style, and it becomes pleasant for those_

_reading._

_Peace!_

Two men sat in a truck outside of Star City's largest wholesaler of electronic goods. The six foot

guy with a pencil thin mustache and jet black hair was tapping nervously on the steering wheel while his

partner next to him was dozing on and off. The night was quiet and still and the moon was only in its

first quarter, giving off very little light. The air was thick with humidity for the end of September and both

men were sweating even though they wore nothing but black t-shirts and black pants.

Stan, the driver, looked out the window and in his mirror's for the umpteenth time. The rest of them

were taking too long and he was getting nervous.

"Would ya stop looking in the mirrors for pete's sake," the passenger said without even opening

his eyes. "They're fine."

"Seems to be taking a long time, Jack," Stan murmured as he looked again out the side mirrors.

"You are becoming one big pain in the ass, you know that," the one called Jack blurted out.

"When the hell did you go all nancie on us, anyway? You used to be the best driver there was in these

parts. Everyone came to you for their jobs. Remember that time we nearly got busted during that bank

job in Central City. Man I thought we were goners, but you handled that car through alley's that I woulda

thought I couldn't have gotten my Harley into. Lost those sons of a bitches in no time flat and we all

walked away with a hundred grand each. Now you sit behind the wheel tapping your fingers and looking

around every thirty seconds. What he hell happened to you man?"

"You haven't had a run in with any of 'them' yet," Stan replied. "Two months ago I was doing this

b and e for Marcus, you know, and we got tagged by Arrow and that damn little brat that he's got hanging

around with him now. The kid knocked two of my teeth out. All of a sudden this whole damn town is

crawling with masks and bows."

"I knew I recognized you," a girls voice said coming out of the thick and steamy night air. "I

always remember a face...especially one that I've bashed in before."

The two men jumped at the voice and Jack was also looking around wildly now. Neither of them

could see anything around them but darkness.

"Go! Go," Jack screamed as he stuck his head out the passenger window and looked around.

He also drew his gun and had it moving wildly outside of the window, waiting for any kind of movement

in the deep shadows.

"Don't think so guys. Unless you mean 'go directly to jail and do not pass go", a male voice

said, but his was closer.

Stan started the truck with a scream as Jack realized where the male voice was coming from

and looked up in time to see a fist come down from the top of the cab. It hit him square in the nose and

he heard the crack and felt the blood fly out into the truck.

Oh crap, go!" Jack yelled through a crushed nose which was bleeding like a stuck pig.

Stan threw it in reverse and hit the gas. He heard the person on the roof roll with the vehicle

but did not hear him roll off, not a good sign. As he turned the wheels and put it in drive, he heard a

sound that he had heard once before, a couple of months ago, a sound that was a sort of "thwing".

He knew what was going to happen before it did; all four tires almost simultaneously went flat. He

knew they had four arrows in them. The truck stopped moving.

"Wads wong wit u," Jack screamed as he realized they weren't moving. He opened the door and

jumped out of the truck and into the alley entrance, still swinging his gun around. He looked up and

saw a young man with a bow and mask standing there. He swung the gun up to fire but he was not

fast enough and an arrow went right through his hand. He screamed in pain and dropped the gun.

The young man jumped off the truck and threw two kicks, the first hitting the man in the

jaw and the second hitting him in the middle of the chest. The man flew into the side of the

building and collapsed in a heap.

The second man also got out of the truck to run but as soon as he turned, she was

there with a smile on her face, "Here's a couple of more for you," she said and hit him again

in the face. He stumbled back and fell unconscious, sliding down the side of the truck.

The masked blond man with the brown skin and longbow walked up to the girl who

couldn't be more then fifteen or sixteen, "Including the five in the warehouse, that makes seven of

them. Not bad, but still no Count Vertigo."

Speedy frowned at the mention of the name. "We should check in with Roy and see how

Ollie is doing," she replied with lines of concern covering her young face.

Conner Hawke nodded in agreement and reached into his belt and pulled out a phone.

He dialed the number while Speedy took the two remaining men and tied them up and placed them

in the back of the truck. She wished they hadn't fallen so quickly. There was still a lot of anger in

her over what happened to Ollie and she needed to release it. Of course Ollie would tell her that

it wasn't what they operated, but she knew better. Ollie was the biggest hot head she had ever met

and she had seen him go off plenty of times on a villain or thug when he was having a particularly

bad day.

Conner walked up to her with a smile on his face, "Good news, Roy said that he woke up

and they pulled the tube out. He's even talked to them a little before he fell back asleep."

"Of course he was talking," she said with a big smile blossoming on her face, "Did you

ever know Ollie not to talk when he could. Oh Conner that's great!" she threw her arms around

him and hugged him, but then drew back quickly and blushed. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Conner looked at her shocked, "What's wrong? It's alright to hug you know, I don't

bite."

"I know," she mumbled again. "Just not very professional, that's all."

Conner laughed gently, "We'll keep it between ourselves then so that nobody comes and

takes away your membership card. Now I'll call the police about these guys and we can continue on

with our search."

"Sounds good," Mia said rather quickly and went to check the ropes on the two she had

just tied up. She breathed a sigh of relief when she had gotten clear of him, and then began to

mentally kick herself.

_I knew better then that. He thinks of me as a little sister. I need to avoid stuff like that,_

she thought to herself. They had already been through all of this before and she wasn't going

to start it all over again.

Conner hung up his phone and waited patiently for her to come back. He knew what her problem was and he would address it if she did. If she chose not to, then he would respect that and give her the space she needed. She was lost right now and he knew that, just as he knew that the only thing he wouldn't do is walk away from her right now. She had just recently been diagnosed as HIV positive and even though she acted as though she was alright with it, he knew better.

"You ready to go, Green Arrow?" Mia called.

"Whenever you…" but he never finished his sentence. One moment he was standing there and the next he was on the ground trying not to lose his lunch. The entire world had turned upside down and he was doing everything he could to try and not fall up into the sky. He was able to catch a glimpse of a costumed villain hovering above him, it was Count Vertigo.

"Don't follow me," he whispered down to Conner. "I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. I am so sick of all of this."

"Let him go," Speedy shouted cocking an arrow and aiming it at the villain.

He turned slowly to Speedy but did not come any closer, nor did he release Conner from the vertigo that the young Green Arrow was experiencing. He did however speak to her in a pleading voice. "Please don't follow me. I just want to be left alone."

"People in Hell want ice water too pal, just let him go and I won't take this arrow and shoot it right through your left knee cap."

"You don't understand," he screamed, becoming more agitated.

Speedy caught Conner out of the corner of her eye and realized that he was throwing up in the street. The more agitated Vertigo became the worse it was for Conner. She had to take him out now, before it got any worse.

That was when it happened. Vertigo began to shake and, to the shock of Speedy, foam at the mouth. He began to fly erratically until he hit the side of the electronics warehouse. He fell ten feet and landed near Conner who was already shaking off the effects of the vertigo. The Count was also still shaking and foaming.

"He's having some kind of seizure. Take my phone and call an ambulance and find out where the police are. I need a minute…"

Speedy dialed the phone but her eyes never left Count Vertigo who had suddenly stopped shaking and lay still.

"This isn't good at all," she said to herself as the phone started ringing. She couldn't believe what she was thinking, but she was praying that she could get an ambulance there before he died.

Conner finally pulled it together and was grabbing Vertigo and checking for a pulse.

"It's there but it's real faint. Where are the police?" he shouted.

"They're on there way. What's wrong with him? Is he having some kind of attack?"

Conner opened Vertigo's mouth and smelled inside, wrinkling his nose as he came back up. "I don't think so. I think he's been poisoned.

To be continued….


	3. Chapter 3

The Second Quest

Part 3

Recovery and Relationships

_All characters are the property of DC comics. Except maybe the candy striper._

For the next twenty four hours Oliver Queen drifted in and out of consciousness. He was aware of Kyle and Wally as well as Clark and Lois stopping by to see him, but the comforting blackness of rest would soon envelope him and he would be gone again. It was only once that he truly became conscious and listened to the discussion of Dinah, Roy, Mia and Connor.

"A coma?" Roy was whispering in disbelief. "Somebody poisoned Vertigo and now he's in a coma. Well I find that pretty convenient, don't you?"

Dinah nodded, "It's definitely not coincidence."

"So now what?" Mia asked impatiently. "We sure can't stand around here and do nothing."

Ollie grinned at her inpatients, There were times that she reminded him so much of both himself and Roy that it was unbelievable. She was part of the Arrow family through and through, and every day he loved her more and more like a daughter.

"That's exactly what we're going to do," Connor replied.

"What?"

"Connor's right, Mia," Roy said trying to calm her down. "Somebody tried to kill Ollie and that somebody will probably try again. He's not out of the woods yet and if someone got in here now…well, it's up to us to protect him.

"I don't need to be protected," Oliver tried to yell, but it came out hoarse and weak

They all turned to him and Canary smiled, "Of course old timer. Why if Deathstroke and the Cheetah came bursting through those doors right now you could probably take them in seconds flat."

"Well you don't have to be mean about it," he grumbled and let unconsciousness flood over him again.

When he awoke again he was in pain and the room was dark, except for a small light that hovered in the corner of the room. He looked up to see Connor relaxed in a chair with a book and a book-light. He tried to ignore the pain, he did not want to press that damn button and have another dose of painkillers in his system. What he wanted was to heal so that he could find the son of a bitch that did this to him.

Looking at Connor he also had a wave of guilt wash over him. Of everyone in his "family", it was Connor that he felt the most distant with, and yet it was Connor that was also his flesh and blood. He had only got to know him for a short time before he died. _I bet not everyone has had a thought like that_, and he started to chuckle at himself. The pain intensified and he stifled a cry.

It was enough for Connor to put his book down and come over quickly, "You alright?"

Ollie nodded and cursed as he hit the button and immediately began to feel a little better. "Just ticks me off that I'm lying here," he replied. "I'm going to catch this guy if it's the last thing I do."

Connor tried to change the subject the best way he knew how, "Oh, by the way, Mr. Wayne called to tell you that he hopes you recover soon and if there is anything that he can do for you, to just let him know."

"That's sweet," Ollie mumbled as the medication clearly began to take effect.

"He also said that this would never have happened to him."

Oliver's eyes that had been half shut popped open and he started to laugh until the it became painful, "That sob. Of course he would never get shot in the back, he just gets his broken."

"He did seem genuinely concerned, though."

"Yah, well he can be a good guy when he wants to."

There was a silence that lingered too long and finally Ollie turned his head and saw a tear coming down Connors cheek.

"Hey, what's that all about? Cut it out, I'm still here."

"I know," he said sucking it up. "It's just that this time felt even more real then the last. We've finally got back on track, you and I, and I thought we were going to lose you again."

The elder bowman swallowed hard, "Not going to happen for a long time…son. Obviously I wasn't wanted up there the first time so I'm sure they're not in that big of a hurry to have me coming back. Listen, Connor, I know I don't say it enough, but…well…um…you're a good kid and I'm prouder then you'll ever know that you are my son."

Connor grinned and wicked grin, "Those drugs are working, aren't they?"

Ollie smiled back at him, "Oh yeah."

For a long time they stayed like that, the only light being the moon's beams that shown through the window. Eventually Oliver fell back to sleep and Connor resumed his studies.

It was still dark when Oliver woke up again but the moon's rays had shifted considerably. He looked around and saw Mia sleeping in the chair next to him. He reached out and touched her hand gently.

She jerked up and had almost reached for her bow when it finally registered what had happened. She quickly went from anger to concern.

"You ok?" she whispered.

"Yes, and what the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night? Who's bright idea was that?"

She grinned in spite of herself, "Roy's. He said it's part of the initiation when you join this family. Connor agreed and Dinah wouldn't help me out, so here I am."

"Wait until I get my hands on him. He's knows better then that. If anyone needs there sleep it's…"

"Don't go there," she warned and her face clouded over. "You've rarely done it in the past and you've never won when you did. I'm a big girl and I know how to take care of myself. In fact from where I'm sitting I look better off then you do."

He was about to reply but snapped his mouth shut. He really couldn't argue with her on that one. He did worry a lot more then he let on when it came to her, though. Sometimes he couldn't remember why he gave in and let her become the new Speedy. She should be out with other girls her age shopping and talking about boys, not throwing on a mask and going after psychopaths. It was just more proof that more then not, life was all about trying to kick you down, not lift you up.

"Don't," Mia whispered, looking into his eyes. "I know exactly what you're thinking and I'm telling you right now that I would live my entire life over the same way to get to this point, so don't even think all those thing you're thinking."

GA grinned, "You think you know me so well."

"Oh, I know you better then a lot of people do. Well, with one possible exception, but we'll wait until you're stronger to get into that conversation. Now go back to sleep so I can to, and if Roy asks, I was awake the entire time and pacing…got it?

He nodded and another smile crept over his face. Without another word he slipped once more into the dream world and dreamed of his time in that other place, before he was resurrected.

He was jerked awake by a duty nurse who was busy doing what they paid her for. He gave her a dirty look for waking him up, but she went on as if she hadn't even noticed. He sighed and realized that although there was still a great deal of pain, it wasn't as intense as it had been through out the night. He turned his head and saw Dinah leaning against the wall watching him with a look he couldn't quite make out.

"Well hello there, bird lady."

She smiled a sad smile and walked up to the side of his bed and took his hand. He responded and squeezed it tight as they stayed that way until the nurse had left. Her eyes never left his and he almost became over whelmed with emotion. He hid it, of course, with one of his lopsided grins.

"What's a pretty bird like you doing in a place like this."

"Wondering why I can't have you in my life and why I can't have my life without you in it."

"Oh…honesty, ok." He was starting to wish that he hadn't woken up yet. Something else to blame the nurse on, he thought. "I didn't mean to give you such a scare."

She waved his comment away with a flip of her hair and let go of his hand, "This is nothing," she said with a low chuckle. "You and I have been dancing to the tune of death's door so many times that we can do it blindfolded. No, it's just…"

The silence became deafening until he finally he replied quietly, "Yah, I know. Listen my pretty bird…"

"Stop calling me that," she said through gritted teeth and yet in a whisper. "You know I am not your pretty bird anymore. Call me Dinah or Black Canary or just Canary or even 'hey you', but stop calling me by that name!"

His heart skipped a beat. All he saw in her eyes now was anger and hurt and he didn't know what to say. He knew how he felt, what he had been thinking when he was being rushed to the hospital and knew it was bad. She was the only thing on his mind and he knew he had to tell her, tell her that he still loved her and missed her, and how she was the only one who ever really got him.

"Dinah, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for…"

"Shut up!" she screamed at him, letting it all out in one huge burst. "Do not go down this road Oliver Queen, not now! I do not want to do this here, the day after you almost died…again, but I swear to you that I will if you really want me to."

This startled him. Even for Dinah this seemed a bit extreme, especially under the circumstances.

"What is going on Dinah?"

"I knew you were going to do this," she said on top of his question. "I knew as soon as you were coherent enough, you were going to use this to try to get on my good side again. Damn you Oliver Queen. How dare you do this to me. "

She came flying back to the side of his bed and her face was only inches away from his. He could smell the sweet smell of his favorite perfume and those beautiful eyes that he had gotten lost in so many times. This time, though, they were practically on fire.

"No more, Ollie. You're not doing this to me anymore," she whispered in his face so that only he could hear her, and barley at that.

"Just once, why don't you die and stay dead…do us all a favor." She jerked herself back up and walked towards the door. She stopped and turned to him one last time. "You better be careful old timer, cause next time it may be somebody a lot closer to you that shoots you…and she won't miss."

Ollie couldn't move, couldn't speak if he had wanted to. Everything had shut down from the shock of her words. His heart was racing and within seconds monitor alarms were going off. He heard people calling out and footsteps in the hall running toward him, but he could do nothing. He was trying to will himself to breath, but that wasn't working either. She had just threatened him!

He saw two nurses run in and behind them was Roy and Dinah. At the site of her again he took a deep breath and then started coughing. The nurses were trying to calm him down and one shouted for the doctor, but at the same time they couldn't figure out what was going on with him.

Ollie kept pointing at Dinah, his terror was beginning to fade away and anger was taking over rather quickly. How dare she threaten him, and yet with the anger and the horror of the scene there was still a lot of confusion in him. How could she even say something like that to him?

As the doctor came in and ordered a small sedative, his two friends moved towards him.

"What's going on old timer?" Roy asked anxiously. "Was there someone here? Did they try to harm you?"

"Her," he gasped pointing to Dinah. "She just threatened my life."

Roy looked around the room and it took a moment for him to realize that Ollie was talking about Dinah. "What are you talking about, Ollie? Dinah didn't threaten you. She's been with me since we got here half an hour ago."

Ollie looked at his ward with a look of confusion on his face. It was Dinah, he knew it was. It was her voice and her eyes and her smell. What the hell was happening to him? That was the last thought that went through his mind as he let the sedative and pain killers do there work and he slipped back into a dreamless sleep…


	4. Chapter 4

Second Quest

All characters in this story are the sole ownership of DC Comics and I am in no way using any of them to make any sort of money.

Chapter 4

Mirrors & Mirages

Another twenty four hours had went by and this time Roy and Dinah made sure that one of them was in the room at all time. Ollie had rarely spoken since the incident and in fact would not look at Dinah at all. He had become uncharacteristically quiet and sullen, his face portraying the inner conflict that was going on in his mind. Even the nurses would give him concerned looks; his early disgruntled disposition was forgotten.

"Ollie," Roy finally said in exasperation after Dinah had left the room, "What the hell is wrong with you? You know it wasn't her, why are you treating her so bad, it's not like you at all."

"I know," the emerald archer mumbled. "It's not her. The whole thing just started me thinking about how crappy I ended up being with her. I really blew it and I'm not sure how to apologize."

"Honestly old man, I think she's gotten past it, but there's only one way to find out. Soon as she gets back I'll make myself scarce and you can talk to her about it. Don't even start…" he said as GA went to speak up. "You know I'm right, just bite the bullet and get it over with…no pun intended of course," and he laughed in spite of himself.

Oliver game him a sour look, but before he could speak the door opened again and Dinah walked back in with a bouquet of flowers. Her face, however, was etched in concern and she gave Roy a quick look of concern before she placed the arrangement in front of Ollie.

"I hate flowers," he grumbled.

"Well I think I'm going to go for a walk," Roy said clearing his throat.

Dinah caught him before he made it to the door, "I think you better stay and see this."

Roy looked back puzzled and noticed that Ollie was staring at the cards with a look of confusion and shock. He was holding the card in his hand and after turning it over a couple of times he laid it down and looked up at them.

"Son of a bitch," he whispered.

Roy walked over and picked up the card, reading it out loud. "Son, sorry I haven't contacted you sooner. There are things going on that you just don't understand. Once you have recovered I will be in contact with you. These last twenty years without you have been painful to say the least. Take care and heal. Dad."

He turned to Ollie who was staring out the window. "You can't believe this is for real!"

"I don't know what to believe anymore. My memories tell me that my Dad never died and that he raised me into my twenties. If it wasn't for that huge fight that we had I would have never left. I could be running the company with him right now. Except he got into a lot of trouble and…and…I didn't believe that he was innocent. I'm still not sure that he was, but the charges were dropped do to lack of evidence. I left the country to get my head on straight, being a kid and all, and that's when ended up on that island for so long. Even when I came back I never actually went to talk to him."

Dinah and Roy exchanged looks, "Oliver," Dinah began, "You do own the company. You were orphaned as a child. You don't remember either of your parents. We can even prove it to you, call the company and ask for the CEO. His name is Buddy Worthers and you and he have been close friends for years now. He's the only one over there that you really trust to run things for you."

Oliver stared at her for a long moment and then reached for the phone, grimacing at the pain. He dialed the number and waited until it was picked up. He announced himself and asked to speak to Mr. Worthers. There was a pause as he listened to the reply and his face slowly drained of color. He thanked the woman quickly and hung up the phone.

"Worthers died two years ago from a heart attack, and he was never the CEO. In fact the CEO has always been and still is, Artemis Queen…my father."

"Sir," the African American gentleman said as he walked into the huge penthouse office on top of the Queen building. "It looks as though he has received the flowers. He called here asking to speak to Mr. Worthers."

The gentleman who was adjusting his tie in the mirror turned, "Hmm, why would he be interested in the late Mr. Worthers? " The man was an older but almost exact twin to Oliver. He too had a van-dyke but it was grey and his eyes shown that same little twinkle that Ollie's got when he was about to do something that could get him into trouble.

"No idea sir," the man who called himself Adrian Johanson said.

"Well get the car around, please. I think it's time to make a quick visit to my grandson."

"Yes sir," Johanson said, and left the room and walked down the steps and into the four car garage. As soon as he got into the car he removed a cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number. It rang several times and finally a voice answered.

"What news?"

"We are going to visit his 'grandson', sir. He seems very anxious to become a part of his as well as his son's life. I would say everything is moving along quite well. Further instructions, sir?"

The voice on the other end sighed, "He cannot talk to Connor Hawke. Send out the same guy we used for his father, but this time tell him to make sure the job is finished."

"Yes sir," and he hung up.

Roy made sure that Oliver was sleeping soundly before he spoke to Dinah, "What the hell is going on here. Now it takes a lot for me to really get freaked out, but I'm almost at the end of my rope. In fact I'm starting to wonder if we're not the one's who've got it all wrong. Ollie is convinced that his dad is alive and always has been. He gets flowers from him and now we find out that Artemis _has_ been running the business this entire time."

Dinah shook her head, "It's just not feasible. Nothing else has changed, as far as I can tell. I spent some time after I left calling Bruce and Clark and even Hal and everything is checking out normal with them, so it's not like someone is changing the course of history."

"Maybe they're just changing Ollie's history; however, if that is the case, wouldn't there be a chance that you and I wouldn't exist, or at least not in Ollie's life. And what about Mia? And who the hell is doing all of this in the first place?"

"I don't know Roy, but I've called someone who might be able to help us answer some questions," she replied as the door swung open and Zatanna walked in.

Arsenal's eye raised, "Good call, wouldn't have thought of that."

"I wouldn't have either," the voice of Ollie said from the bed. "Hello Zee, you're looking as gorgeous and under dressed as always."

She laughed and gave him a concerned smile, "Glad to see that something's haven't changed. Dinah wants me to see if my magic can pull anything else from your memories. Something that maybe you haven't remembered."

"I remembered everything. I don't need anyone digging through my mind."

"You've got it wrong, Ollie. I'm not going to be 'digging', just trying to bring up your memories and see if there was something you left out. I won't be going into your mind, my spell doesn't work that way. No, I'll just be bringing out that one memory for you to remember. All your other thoughts will be safely locked away."

"Don't think it will help, but let's go for it."

Zatanna took a deep breath and sat next to Ollie on the bed, "Just relax and close your eyes, good. Now I am going to cast the spell and your mind will take you right back to the minutes before you got shot. Be very observant, Ollie, this might be your only chance."

Green Arrow nodded and closed his eyes, "Go for it, darling."

Zatanna moved her fingers into an intricate pattern and murmured quietly, "rebemeR."

Instantly Ollie was standing in the middle of the street trying not to loose his lunch. He was being attacked by Vertigo and he wasn't fairing very well. In fact he was just about to collapse, he could feel it, when he heard that sound…that sound that was always music to his ears.

Black Canary had unleashed her scream and Vertigo fell from his spot where he had been hovering. On his way down he grabbed a small flag pole and through it in her direction. She was not able to deflect it and it hit her in the stomach. The scream stopped and she fell back gasping. Vertigo had grabbed the small pole and while he hit her with his power he also raised the sharp end of the pole and was about to bring it down on her.

Green Arrow reacted quickly and fired an arrow that knocked the pole out of his hand. With blinding speed she had another one that he was stretching out to his Vertigo when he felt the first shot hit him in the back. It was a burning sensation and by the time he realized what had happened, it had happened two more times. As he fell to the ground, he remembered that he had seen a figure from a side mirror of a car parked along the street. The figure was just turning around from the roof of a far building and was leaving. He heard Canary scream his name and also saw Vertigo looking around, confused, it appeared. Then the blackness over took him.

Oliver Queen's eyes flew open and his face became pale, "Oh crap! I saw him. I saw who shot me."

The three others gathered around him and Dinah took his hand, "Who was it Ollie?"

"Deadshot."

Connor Hawke was fighting off two stoolies at one time. He liked the days when the stool pigeons ran in fear, not fought back first. He kicked the first one in the gut and the guy went flying back, landing in a pile of trash. The Second one made a swing for him that he ducked and then grabbed the man's arm and flipped him over. Before the man could move he had his bow out and an arrow cocked and aimed at the man's throat.

"Now I'll ask you one more time, do you know who if there is a contract out on Green Arrow and if so, who did it?"

"Ok, I'll tell you," the man shouted, his body shaking.

As Connor waited for the answer he was unaware of the little red dot that had appeared on his left temple.

From the building across the street, Deadshot whistled quietly, "Got you," and fired the gun that was built into his wrist.

To be continued….


End file.
